After living below the line…

Bread (Photo credit: ulterior epicure)

…grocery shopping.  Okay, not that I really needed to go to the grocery store.  I have plenty of food in my house, plenty.  But I was hungry when I got off work today and found myself wandering the aisles at Kroger.

I was pleased with most of what I brought home..watermelon, sugar snap peas, pico de gallo, chicken, artisan multigrain bread, sweet potato crackers…and then there was the diet Pepsi…oh yeah, and the ice cream sandwiches…ha!!  I told you I had a hankering for something with chocolate…not that the chocolate in those things is particularly high quality.

It sure tasted good to have a slice of that artisan bread rather than the store brand stuff I’d been eating all week.  Granted, we can all make our own bread and it most definitely tastes tons better than the cheap stuff you can find in the stores…but we usually don’t take the time to bake our own bread.  And I really don’t know why.  It doesn’t really take that long…it’s not like you have to stand over it the entire time it’s rising.  Surely it would be less expensive to bake our own bread rather than buy even the cheap stuff, wouldn’t you think?  Maybe I’ll have to do a study on that one…

Anyhow, I’m glad I took part in the challenge…and oh so thankful that I don’t have to live like that every day.

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Christmas is almost here!!!

I was so happy when I noticed that Christmas is only four days away!  I get to see my family.  I get an entire weekend off work!  I can get back to a semblance of normalcy as far as my work schedule goes.  And I can finally have the time to get some sleep, rest, cook some healthy food, get back to my exercise routine, and take a little vacation!

Remember when you were a kid and it seemed like Christmas would never get here?  And then finally it was Christmas Eve and you wanted to go to sleep but you were so excited that you couldn’t.  Then finally getting out of bed on Christmas morning and seeing what Santa had left for you.  Our grandparents lived down the hill from us and would come up as soon as they saw the lights come on (why is it, when you get older and have the opportunity to sleep in, you don’t do it?).  They’d sit there and watch us open our presents and they always had a gift for each of us too.  I still have this  ceramic piggy bank that my grandparents gave me when I was a preteen.  It’s nothing special, but it’s oh so special to me.

Mom and Grandma always made a big Christmas breakfast…usually pancakes and bacon.  Then they’d clean up while we played.  Before long, it was time to start preparing the Christmas dinner.  Mom always made her homemade chicken and noodles…unbelievably good.  When I got older, I made homemade yeast bread.  My grandfather loved it, said it reminded him of his mother’s bread.

My grandparents have been gone for many years and my mom has been gone for over 20 years.  But that only makes the memories that much more precious.

Merry Christmas to all!!